MTA New York City Transit Adds Service for the Holidays and Runs Nostalgia Specials

December 01st, 2010

If you're planning on taking advantage of all of the great things the City has to offer this holiday season, including the shopping, sightseeing and visits with friends and relatives, MTA New York City Transit will be offering more frequent weekend service along several subway lines. Riders will also have the opportunity to ride a vintage bus or "nostalgia train" to add to the holiday cheer.

NYC Transit provides subway service to meet demand and careful monitoring of past holiday travel trends shows that the number of subway trips rise during the peak holiday season. The numbered lines in Manhattan see significant ridership increases which are driven largely by trips made by holiday shoppers.

‘This is an extremely busy time of year for weekend travel and we are increasing our scheduled weekend service in areas of historically high ridership," said NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast. By adding extra trains we are able to increase capacity and also shorten the wait time for riders."

The service increases will be in place the weekends of December 4th and 5th, 11th and 12th, and 18th and 19th. During these periods, customers using the No 1 and No. 6 will see scheduled wait times drop from eight to six minutes. Combined, No. 2 and No. 3 trains will arrive every five minutes instead of the regularly scheduled six. No. 4 and No. 5 trains are also scheduled for an increase in service from every five minutes to every four.

Three of the lettered lines will also benefit from increases in scheduled service during these December weekends. E trains are scheduled to run every 71/2 minutes instead of every 10 minutes on Saturday evening and Sunday. E service is already scheduled to arrive at 7 1/2 minute intervals during the day on Saturdays. F train riders will also see trains scheduled to arrive every 7 1/2 minutes instead of every 10 minutes on Saturday and Sunday. Q service is scheduled to run every 7 1/2 minutes instead of every 10 minutes.

Just in time for the holidays, NYC Transit is also running buses and subway cars from its historic fleet. Bus customers will once again have the opportunity to ride buses from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and this year, the nostalgia fleet will operate along routes in all five boroughs. Vintage buses will operate along the B1 and B65 in Brooklyn; S61 in Staten Island; Q13 and Q46 in Queens; M34 and M42 in Manhattan and the Bx7 and Bx30 in the Bronx.

Subway customers may also take a ride back in time between Queens and Lower Manhattan along the M line through the holiday season. The "Nostalgia Train" is made up of subway cars in service from 1932 until 1977. Ceiling fans, padded seats and incandescent light bulbs were state-of-the-art when these cars were first placed in service.

Many New Yorkers bear fond memories of the trains, which served the lettered lines throughout the system. However, with the cars having been out of service for more than 30 years, many New Yorkers have never experienced the charm of wicker seats and ceiling fans. The holiday "Nostalgia Train" will operate on Sundays only, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., from November 28th to December 26th.